Follow
Sailed Plymouth 25th September 1874 - arrived Lyttelton 31st December 1874.
Built in 1865 by C. Connell and Company of Glasgow, the Crusader was an iron ship- rigged vessel of 1058 tons. Launched in March 1865 she was originally owned by Patrick Henderson and then became the property of Shaw Savill & Albion Co. Ltd following the merger of Patrick Henderson and Albion. She was applied to the England - New Zealand immigrant trade between 1871 and 1898 and, making 28 voyages to various ports in New Zealand was probably the busiest of the immigrant ships in those heady days. In this role she made four voyages to Auckland, three to Wellington, seven to Port Chalmers, thirteen to Lyttelton and a solitary visit to Bluff in the deep south. Crusader was a great favourite with New Zealand immigrant passengers and was always described as a smart and well turned out ship. Small though she was, Crusader made some excellent times on the voyage out, her best being 74 days land-to-land. Indeed so popular was she that group was formed of those who had travelled in her called The Crusader Association who would continue meeting until around 1925. When steam began to make serious inroads into the domain of the sailing ship, Crusader was sold to Norway and was eventually broken up in 1915. White Wings - Sir Henry Brett